


The Toll of War

by jodezzdymo



Category: Original Work
Genre: Creepy, Genetic Modification, Mystery, Other, PTSD, SOLDIER - Freeform, Suspense, Thriller, War, idk - Freeform, whats another tag?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 12:48:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5540654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jodezzdymo/pseuds/jodezzdymo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A depiction of the, very real, struggles returning soldiers are faced with while trying to return to civilian life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Toll of War

Tommy was continuing his daily routine when he saw something that he couldn’t ignore. As much as he wanted to continue with his run he knew that he morally couldn't accept what he was witnessing. He removed his earphones, coiled them in a neat ring and slid them into his pocket, not taking too much care in his actions, knowing that they would be tangled as soon as he removed them. The young veteran had seen many unforgivable things during his time at war and not intervening when he saw them was his biggest regret, but that’s just the toll of war. He wasn’t going to overlook this one, not when those poor, defenceless animals were being treated so inhumanely. It was daylight and the laboratory  
was full of scientists. Tommy was going to use his extensive military training to break in and free those creatures, tonight.

As sundown drew closer Tommy started worrying. He was about to break the law in a country that he risked his life for on multiple occasions. The closer his impending crime became his stomach started to get tighter and tighter until, by the time he arrived at the laboratory, his stomach was in a complete knot. He parked his car a few streets away, not wanting to seem suspicious and slowly stepped out, the realisation of the felony he was about to commit, not yet set in. Before he walked to the laboratory he stopped, just embracing the serenity and silence of the normally bustling city. He dawdled around the streets until he reached the back of the laboratory, knowing that nobody would be in a dark and creepy ally way at 11 o'clock at night. He pulled up the hood of his jumper to cover his face and walked towards the security cameras, making sure that his face was unidentifiable if the tapes were ever looked at. After he had reached around and cut the wires leading to the cameras he barged into the cheap wooden door, making it splinter at its hinges and simply walked into the lab. Tommy couldn’t help but think that for experimental scientists they weren’t very clever with their security measures. That was until he tripped the alarm system. Lights and sirens were going off all around him, making him disorientated, his heart race and his chest tighten. He didn’t know what to do, they had a cheap door and cameras that were easy to disable, so why would they want someone to get into the lab before they were caught? It didn’t make sense until he saw what was in the cages. It wasn’t animals that were being tested on. It was people. Well, he wasn’t really sure what they were anymore. He recognised some of the people even though they were now mutated and deformed. Their skin had a green tinge to it and their eyes were cold and lifeless. They were no longer the healthy people he once knew, they were people who's frames were so frail that it looked like a slight breeze could knock them over. Tommy could remember seeing their almost unrecognisable faces full of joy when now they didn't even have any life in them. He was so caught up in his memories of these people that only when he felt someone put their hand on his shoulder did he remember the sirens, the lights and where he was. It was too late. He’d been caught.

While he was trying to think of a way to fight off the attacker he heard a voice that he recognised “Thomas, what are you doing here?”, his neighbour Mr Gregory whispered in Tommy’s ear trying to be heard over the sirens. “It’s too dangerous, get out now.”, but Tommy couldn’t leave, he had a duty to his community and more importantly to himself.  
“I’m sorry sir, I can’t do that”, he tried to sound strong, but the way his voice cracked gave him away.  
“Well then, I’m not going to leave you here to play out your death wish, I may not be a young whippersnapper like you, but I certainly know my way around being in places I’m not supposed to be.” Tommy didn’t know what he meant by that, but before he had time to ask Mr Gregory had charged to the other side of the lab like a bull charging at a matador and ripping the alarm system from the wall. Once the epilepsy inducing lights had been turned off Tommy could see clearly; he could see that the people in the cages were all people from the council. There were police officers, firefighters and even rangers trapped in the cages, Tommy could tell that these were heroic people that had come to do the same thing he had, but their story had a different ending. He recognised Sheriff McAllister in one of the cages in the third row, there were dozens of people stuck in there so why Sheriff McAllister caught his eye is a mystery. Before Tommy’s brain could even process what was happening he was at the Sheriff’s cage fiddling with the bolt, trying to get him out  
“Don’t worry Sheriff, I’m going to get you out” Tommy said, trying to be reassuring, but he couldn’t get the last latch undone. Sheriff McAllister slowly put his long, skinny fingers through the grate of the cage and pulled Tommy’s jumper close to the cage. The Sheriff put his lips right up against the cage and whispered inaudibly. It looked like the Sheriff had suffered a stroke, but at his young age it didn’t seem likely, until Tommy turned around and saw that every single one of the people in the cages looked like they had suffered from the same thing, their skin drooping so far on one side that it looked like it could drip off and create a puddle of human tissue. The sheriff tried to speak again, this time Tommy caught what was said. The last words Tommy heard before he fell into the dark oblivion were “Don’t trust Gregory”.

Tommy was awoken by a nurse in the facility making sure he took his medication, “It’s the toll of war” she says as she leaves the room.


End file.
